Drawing an appropriate boundary between unpatentable natural phenomena and patentable inventions is critical in preventing the patent laws from unduly restricting access to fundamental scientific discoveries. Some would argue that, particularly in the U.S., patents are being issued which purport...

This article examines the current status of objective indicia in deciding nonobviousness, particularly in the pharmaceutical arts, an area of technology where their weighting can at times prove outcome determinative. The article begins by looking at how these various factors have been applied in...